If you're unfamiliar with the "Shitty Media Men" list, which circulated around the Internet a few months ago, the gist was that a woman (or group of women) chose to create and distribute a list to warn other women and nonbinary people in the industry about alleged male predators who work in the media. It was a crowdsourced Excel spreadsheet that stemmed from a whisper network, with contributions ultimately coming in from dozens of women that outlined names, places of employment, and alleged inappropriate conduct of nearly 100 men in the industry.

The list and its anonymous creator came back into the spotlight this week, after it was confirmed that Harper's magazine was set to publish a cover story about the list, potentially revealing the creator's identity in the process — and thus, setting her up for what could very much be a year full of doxxing, the dangerous yet common practice of exposing a person's personal information online, as pointed out by several people on social media. And in a surprising move, New York-based writer Moira Donegan revealed herself to be the creator of the list in a piercing, beautifully written op-ed for New York magazine's The Cut.

"In the beginning, I only wanted to create a place for women to share their stories of harassment and assault without being needlessly discredited or judged. The hope was to create an alternate avenue to report this kind of behavior and warn others without fear of retaliation," Donegan writes. "Recent months have made clear that no amount of power or money can shield a woman from sexual misconduct. But like me, many of the women who used the spreadsheet are particularly vulnerable: We are young, new to the industry, and not yet influential in our fields. As we have seen time after time, there can be great social and professional consequences for women who come forward. For us, the risks of using any of the established means of reporting were especially high and the chance for justice especially slim."

Social media support for Donegan has been swift and overwhelming, with a copious amount of media women, non-binary people, and men thanking her for her bravery. "This doc was created in the days following my outing a violent male writer. I wanted to start the conversation so badly I shared humiliating photos of myself beaten & bruised," one woman tweeted. "The list made myself & many others feel less alone in the days that followed." Here’s the thing about Moira Donegan’s Shitty Media Men list....it worked," another wrote. "And that speaks volumes about HR (or lack thereof) in media today."

Harper's is reportedly still planning on running a feature about the list, written by Katie Roiphe, in its March issue, although the specific angle and contents of the article are currently unknown.